964 – Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: “A woman said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, my daughter’s husband has died and her eye is hurting; may I apply kohl to her?’ He replied, ‘No.’” Agreed upon. (1)
Vocabulary of the ḥadīth
• ishtakkat ʿaynuhā (“her eye is troubling her”): The noun may be read in the nominative as the subject, or in the accusative as the object, in which case the concealed subject refers to the daughter.
• afatakḥuluhā (“may I apply kohl to her?”): from the verb kaḥala–yakaḥalu. To kohl the eye is to place kohl in it. Kohl denotes any non-liquid substance used in the eye for therapeutic purposes, such as antimony (ithmid) and the like.
• lā (“No”): In one wording found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) repeated “No” two or three times.
Points derived from the ḥadīths
- A woman may mourn (iḥdād) for a deceased person other than her husband for three days or fewer. This grants the soul a measured share of relief, manifests grief, and fulfils the rights of kinship. Mourning for more than three days is forbidden by an authentic report.
- A widow must observe iḥdād for four months and ten days if she is not pregnant, as the Exalted says: “Those among you who die and leave wives behind shall wait by themselves for four months and ten nights” (Q 2:234). If she is pregnant, her waiting period and mourning last until she gives birth, whether that term is short or long, as He says: “And those who are pregnant—their term is until they deliver their burden” (Q 65:4).
- Iḥdād, as mentioned earlier, means remaining in the house where her husband died while she is residing there, and avoiding everything that might invite suitors—such as adornment in clothing or on the body. She therefore avoids garments of ostentation and finery, and likewise bodily adornments such as perfume, henna, and kohl,